As is known, the United States produces over 250 million tons of municipal solid waste each year. This number represents approximately 4.6 pounds of waste per person per day. A large portion of this waste is hauled away in garbage trucks and packed into sanitary landfills. As a result, landfilling has become the number disposing trash in the United States. However, most of the material disposed of in landfills is recyclable. Hence, in order to reduce the volume of waste disposed of in landfills, Americans have turned to recycling. It has be found that recycling benefits the environment at every stage in the life cycle of a consumer product, from the raw material used to make the product, to the final method of disposal. In order to encourage recycling, many public facilities have start to position recycling bins throughout their premises.
Typically, a recycling bin is defined by a housing having a plurality of openings or slots that provide access to the interior of the housing. A pliable bag is positioned within the interior of the housing to receive any recyclable material deposited in the openings or slots thereof. It can be appreciated that various types of bag holders have been developed to maintain the openings in the pliable bags in desired positions within the housings. By way of example, Mutert, U.S. Pat. No. 7,032,868 discloses a bag stand for supporting a bag during filling of the bag. More specifically, the bag stand includes first and second legs pivotable with respect to one another about a pivot axis. The first and second legs pivot between a first position wherein the first and second legs are substantially aligned with respected to each other for storage and a second position wherein the first and second legs are transverse with respect to each other in order to receive a bag. The upper portions of the first and second legs of the bag stand include excurvate portions adapted for receiving the upper edge of a bag and for a bag support receivable within the interior of a modular recycling center for supporting a conventional plastic bag in an open position.
While functional for their intended purpose, these prior bag supports have certain shortcomings. By way of example, the bag support disclosed in the '868 patent requires the upper edge of the bag to be weaved through various bends in the first and second legs in order to maintain the bag in position. It can be appreciated that it is often difficult for a user to properly interconnect the upper edge of the bag to the excurvate portions of the first and second legs. Hence, it is highly possible for the pliable bag to be disengaged from the bag stand during filling. If the pliable bag becomes disengaged from the bag stand, any recyclable material deposited in the openings or slots in the housing of the recycle bin may fall outside of the bag, thereby causing a mess within housing.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide a bag support receivable within the interior of a modular recycling center for supporting a conventional plastic bag in an open position during the filling of the bag.
It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide a bag support receivable within the interior of a modular recycling center for supporting a conventional plastic bag in an open position that is simple to utilize and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is a still further object and feature of the present invention to provide a bag support that may be easily inserted into the interior of a modular recycling center.
In accordance with the present invention, a bag support is provided for supporting the upper portion of a bag. The bag support includes first and second side rails generally parallel to each other. A first bag support rod extends between the first and second rails along a first axis. The first bag support rod includes a first bag retainer extending therefrom. A second bag support rod extends between the first and second rails along a second axis generally parallel to the first axis. The second bag support rod includes a first bag retainer extending therefrom.
The first bag retainer extending from the first bag support rod may be one of a plurality of bag retainers extending from the first bag support rod. The plurality of bag retainers extending from the first bag support rod lie in a common plane. Similarly, the first bag retainer extending from the second bag support rod may be one of a plurality of bag retainers extending from the second bag support rod. The plurality of bag retainers extending from the second bag support rod lie in a common plane.
The first bag retainer extending from the first bag support rod has first and second ends. The first end of the first bag retainer extending from the first bag support rod is generally C-shaped and the second end of the first bag retainer extending from the first bag support rod is generally C-shaped. The first bag retainer extending from the second bag support rod has first and second ends. The first end of the first bag retainer extending from the second bag support rod is generally C-shaped and the second end of the first bag retainer extending from the second bag support rod is generally C-shaped.
The first and second rails include forward and rear ends. The first bag support rod extends between the rear ends of the first and second rails. The second bag support bar extends between the forward ends of the first and second rails.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a bag support is provided. The bag support includes a first bar extending along a first axis. The first bar has a first bag retainer extending therefrom. The first bag retainer supports an upper portion of a corresponding bag. A second bar extends along a second axis generally parallel to the first axis. The second bar has a first bag retainer extending therefrom. The first bag retainer of the second bar supports the upper portion of the corresponding bag. A first support member extends along a third axis. The first support member has a first end operatively connected to the first bar and a second end operatively connected to the second bar.
The first bag retainer extends from the first bar is one of a plurality of bag retainers extending from the first bar. The plurality of bag retainers extending from the first bar lie in a common plane. The first bag retainer extending from the second bar is one of a plurality of bag retainers extending from the second bar. The plurality of bag retainers extending from the second bar lie in a common plane.
The first bag retainer extending from the first bar has first and second ends. The first end of the first bag retainer extending from the first bar is generally C-shaped and the second end of the first bag retainer extending from the first bar is generally C-shaped. The first bag retainer extending from the second bar has first and second ends. The first end of the first bag retainer extending from the second bar is generally C-shaped and the second end of the first bag retainer extending from the second bar is generally C-shaped.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, a bag support is provided. The bag support includes a first bar extending along a first axis. A second bar extends along a second axis generally parallel to the first axis. A first support has a first end operatively connected to the first bar and a second end operatively connected to the second bar. A first bag retainer extends from the first bar. The first bag retainer has first and second ends. A second bag retainer extends from the second bar. The second bag retainer has first and second ends.
The first end of the first bag retainer is generally C-shaped and the second end of the first retainer is generally C-shaped. The first end of the second bag retainer is generally C-shaped and the second end of the second bag retainer is generally C-shaped. The first bag retainer extending from the first bar is one of a plurality of bag retainers extending from the first bar. The second bag retainer extending from the second bar is one of a plurality of bag retainers extending from the second bar.